“Hiss!”
Yun Chunfeng was so engrossed in the juicy gossip that he forgot to even fan himself with his feather fan.
Wang Qi’s face also shifted through a spectrum of colors.
The General’s background… was truly pitiable.
Thud!
A loud noise came from the direction of the main house.
It startled Wang Qi, making him jump in place. He turned to look.
He saw the General’s wife supporting herself against the doorframe, slowly using it to rise to her feet.
The sound just now was the thump of her kneeling straight down onto the floor.
Yun Chunfeng, however, remained utterly calm, not even turning his head.
He had known all along that Huo Ci was eavesdropping behind the door.
The reason he didn’t stop it was pure mischief from the bottom of his heart.
He wanted a certain someone to hear just how much filth was hidden within the General’s estate that he was so proud of.
He just hadn’t expected it to be this filthy.
“Wang Qi, you’ve done well.”
Yun Chunfeng produced a two-thousand-tael silver note and lightly patted it into Wang Qi’s hand.
“Your humble servant is not as wealthy, nor as generous as the General. Take this for now. When the General returns, there will be more reward.”
Wang Qi was so frightened he waved his hands repeatedly in refusal.
He was just answering questions, how could he dare accept so much money?
“You won’t take it? You look down on this humble servant? Are my words not good enough?”
Wang Qi: …
Fine! I’ll take it! I’ll take it, alright?!
He’d never seen a master who forced people to accept money!
Having witnessed the State Preceptor’s methods before, he hurriedly expressed a thousand thanks, accepted the silver note, and tucked it away.
Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of a figure staggering towards the ancestral hall. Wang Qi was startled.
“State Preceptor, the General’s wife, she—”
“Don’t mind him.
He brought this upon himself, and he thoroughly deserves it!”
Wang Qi: ?
Was it really okay to speak of a woman like that?
He had never dared to casually inquire about his masters’ affairs.
But in their daily interactions, he always felt something was off, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
He couldn’t clearly define the relationship between these three people.
The intricate web of entanglements couldn’t withstand close scrutiny.
Now, it was even stranger.
Suddenly, a light pat fell on his shoulder. Wang Qi snapped back to attention to see Yun Chunfeng looking at him with a knowing, half-smile, saying:
“The time is not yet right, just wait.
Go keep an eye on that person at the ancestral hall. Just make sure he doesn’t die.”
Wang Qi scratched his head.
He didn’t understand, but he could follow orders.
——-
Jiang Xingyan arrived at the side courtyard. The attendant following her lit numerous lamps and candles, illuminating the originally dim courtyard until it was bright.
She gestured for her attendants to bring over an armchair and sat down right in the middle of the courtyard.
“Honored Mother, please come out to the courtyard. It’s rather stuffy inside the house. For what matter have you summoned your child?”
Old Madam Huo, supported by Li Yishu, tottered out.
She had changed into a dark green satin jacket with a mandarin collar and a horse-riding jacket style, and on her head wore a wax-velvet flower-patterned hat inlaid with gold and jade, its tassels hanging down the back.
She was dressed neatly and sharply, looking even a few years younger and more spirited.
Jiang Xingyan raised an eyebrow.
What a good niece for her aunt, even bringing her new clothes.
Li Yishu lowered her eyes respectfully and said, “Yishu has just married His Highness the Eldest Prince and doesn’t have anything worthy to offer as filial piety to my aunt.
I only managed to get these two items. I hope Aunt doesn’t find them beneath you.
From now on, Yishu will definitely visit Aunt often.”
Speaking to the point of emotion, she even dabbed the corner of her eye with a handkerchief.
Such filial piety almost made Jiang Xingyan want to applaud and cheer.
“Did Honored Mother summon your child here just to watch this touching display of affection between aunt and niece?”
Old Madam Huo shuddered, afraid that Huo Ci would get up and leave, and hurriedly spoke:
“It’s been so long since I’ve seen my son, this mother misses you terribly!
Today, Yishu happened to return home. Why don’t the three of us have a nice gathering?”
Jiang Xingyan abruptly stood up.
“If there’s nothing important, I’ll head back first. I’m rather tired.”
“Cousin, don’t go!”
Li Yishu grew anxious, rushing over to kneel before Jiang Xingyan, kowtowing repeatedly: “Cousin, please don’t go! I beg you, help His Highness the Eldest Prince!”
Jiang Xingyan’s patience was already worn thin, her tone displeased: “Oh?
And why should I help him? What does he have to do with me?”
Li Yishu was momentarily at a loss for words.
Forget that she was only a concubine; even if she were the principal wife, she and Huo Ci were still not remotely related.
If her father hadn’t gambled away the family fortune back then, been driven to desperation, and forcibly dug out this distant branch of relatives from the clan registry, would Huo Ci even know who she was?
Old Madam Huo, held tightly by Li Yishu’s grip and absolutely daring not to remain a passive spectator any longer, hastily stepped forward to plead:
“Ci’er, this mother only has this one niece left. For the sake of my maternal family’s dwindling numbers, please help her.
Without the support of a maternal family, how difficult her days in the palace will be!”
Jiang Xingyan watched coldly as the aunt and niece performed their duet before her.
Their rare act of cooperation piqued her curiosity about what Li Yishu was actually asking for.
“Oh? His Highness the Eldest Prince is of noble status. How could he possibly need my help?”
Hearing her cousin relent slightly, Li Yishu quickly shuffled forward on her knees until she was before him. She wanted to grab the hem of his robe but, meeting that icy gaze, awkwardly withdrew her hand.
“Yishu heard that at noon in the market, Cousin and His Highness the Third Prince had a servant named Zhang Yuan beaten to death with staffs?”
Jiang Xingyan didn’t respond. Not daring to pause, Li Yishu hurriedly continued.
“This was originally a minor matter of an underling overstepping their bounds. A punishment should have sufficed.
But His Highness the Eldest Prince said that during the morning court session today, His Majesty specifically emphasized adherence to the law.
He fears that at tomorrow’s morning court, His Highness the Third Prince might seize upon this incident, exaggerate and embellish it, provoking His Majesty’s wrath and resulting in severe punishment.
Therefore—”
“Therefore, he sent you to ask me to cover up for him, is that it?”
Li Yishu sensed the hostility in Jiang Xingyan’s tone and knelt on the ground, not daring to say more.
Old Madam Huo, eager to prove her worth, reached out and clutched Huo Ci’s wrist:
“My son, no matter what, Yishu is married to His Highness the Eldest Prince now. No matter how much our Huo family tries to distance ourselves, it’s useless. It would be better to—”
“Better to just throw in our lot with His Highness the Eldest Prince and become chips in his bid for the Crown Prince’s position, right?”
Jiang Xingyan scoffed coldly: “Honored Mother, you really don’t think the Huo family will die fast enough!
I wonder if Honored Mother witnessed it with her own eyes when Grandfather was dug out of his grave and whipped posthumously?”
Old Madam Huo’s face instantly turned deathly pale, her whole body trembling.
The scene of her family members, bound together with ropes, being led to the execution ground and beheaded row by row suddenly became vividly clear in her mind.
That day, the execution ground at the vegetable market was a river of blood, everything tinted red.
Hiding in the crowd, she watched the heads of her elder brother, sister-in-law, and younger brother roll to the ground one by one.
They didn’t even spare the young nieces and nephews.
The youngest was only three.
How could they do it?!
The small head seemed to land right at her feet.
Terrified, she turned and fled, not daring to look back.
From that day on, the former Li Yuan was dead. What remained alive was merely Huo Zhuiyuan’s wife.
She was Huo Li-shi, who would stop at nothing to live a better life.
She knew Huo Zhuiyuan had never cared for her; he was just following his father’s orders.
He married her, brought her into the household, dumped her in the inner quarters, and left her to her own devices.
He wanted to go to the battlefield with that vixen, to be together as a pair!
How could she let him have his wish!
When she climbed into his bed, wasn’t he just like all other men, succumbing to bestial lust, pinning her down, venting himself over and over again?
What ‘mutual trust and affection,’ what ‘growing old together in harmony.’
It was all lies!
She was the final victor!
Old Madam Huo’s eyes turned bloodshot, staring fixedly at Jiang Xingyan:
“No! It wasn’t like that!
Father, he just… he just trusted the wrong person. He didn’t do anything wrong.
Who doesn’t want their family to enjoy glory for generations?
What’s wrong with supporting the Crown Prince early?!
Why is it only your Huo family that gets to remain unscathed?
It must have been your family, your grandfather and father, who secretly helped the current Emperor, right?!
It was your family, who caused my family’s ruin and deaths!
You are their son, you should repay their debt for them.
Do as I say!
Otherwise, I will hang myself right in front of the Huo estate gate.
Let all the commoners under heaven see what kind of good person you, Huo Ci, are!
When that time comes, you, that merchant’s daughter, and the wretched little girl you bore will all have to accompany me in death!
No one will get away!”